Fantasy Football Warning Signals For Week 9

November 5, 2020

Bruce Matson lists players at each position (QB, RB, WR, TE) who have struggled ahead of Week 9 of the 2020 NFL season. These players could be fallers worth benching, trading, or dropping soon in fantasy football.

The warning signals are strobing bright after Week 8 since we are exactly half-way through the season. We now have a large enough sample size to make some sounds decisions for our fantasy rosters.

We are about to hit the home stretch. This is a time where we need to think about how we can prepare for a playoff run and maximize our rosters for the playoffs. There are teams in our leagues who are out of the hunt. On the flip side, everyone knows who the tough customers in your league are.

Let’s take a look at this week’s warning signals and see who is on the precipice of becoming a landmine on our fantasy rosters. We also must analyze the warning signals blasting from the breakout players because we can’t miss on them.

Quarterback

Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles

We just watched Wentz play against a Dallas Cowboys team who started Ben DiNucci at quarterback who is a rookie making his first-ever start at the NFL level. It was hard to tell which quarterback was the veteran who was drafted in the first round a few years ago.

In this game, Wentz passed for 123 yards and two touchdowns while also tossing two interceptions. The shining light was Jalen Reagor coming back from this thumb injury to catch three passes for 16 yards and one touchdown. His presence will provide a much-needed boost to the offense.

Wentz has been highly volatile this season. He has produced some QB1 games but he has also been a liability on a lot of fantasy teams as well.

Running Back

Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts

Taylor had 11 rushes for 22 yards in week 8 against the Detroit Lions. He was out produced by Jordan Wilkins who ran for 89 yards and a touchdown. Things haven’t gone according to plan for Taylor. The offensive line isn’t getting a solid push upfront. He is not seeing the field well which is causing him to miss some opportunities.

It’s been a rough year for Taylor, but remember he’s still a rookie who had to make do with a condensed off-season schedule to get acquainted with the team’s offensive system. He’s still an elite-level running back prospect. Not all players blow up during their rookie season. Some of them wait until the last few games of the season before they start to turn it on. Taylor is a player we have to patient with in all fantasy formats because he could come out of nowhere and become a dominant force.

Wide Receiver

Marquise Brown, Baltimore Ravens

It’s no secret that the Baltimore Ravens is a run-first team with a quarterback who likes to run the football. The team’s tight end, Mark Andrews, also commands a large portion of the targets, making it hard for the wide receivers to maintain consistent production.

This week was particularly hard for Brown considering 50 percent of the targets went to Willie Snead and Mark Andrews in a losing effort to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is the team’s deep threat which means he’s going to be very volatile in fantasy. Games like this are going to happen for Brown since he’s going to live and die by the deep ball.

Tight End

Ian Thomas, Carolina Panthers

There was a lot of optimism about Thomas’ fantasy value going into the season. The Panthers were projected to be a pass-heavy offense that presented a lot of opportunity for the young tight end. However, his season has not lived up to expectations. He has struggled to produce, leaving his fantasy managers wanting more.

This is looking to be a lost season for Thomas. He has yet to hit double-digit fantasy points this season. D.J. Moore and Rodney Anderson are stealing the show. Not to mention the offensive game plan funnels targets to the running backs. In Week 8 he caught just three balls for 28 yards.

He is touchdown-dependent and will never see enough volume to be reliable for fantasy football purposes. If he doesn’t score a touchdown, the odds of him producing a TE1 week is highly unlikely.

Breakout Alert!

J.K. Dobbins, Baltimore Ravens

The buying window has slammed shut on Dobbins after he rushed for 113 yards on Sunday. Everyone was wondering when the cream was going to rise to the top. It took Mark Ingram being out of the lineup for Dobbins to really showcase what he can do on the football field.

Dobbins was considered one of the top running backs in last year’s draft class. He can excel at both running between the tackles and catching the ball out of the backfield. The rookie has the potential to be one of the best running backs in fantasy football.

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